Low intensity conflict
Low intensity conflict (LIC) is the use of military forces applied selectively and with restraint to enforce compliance with the policies or objectives of the political body controlling the military force. The term can be used to describe conflicts where at least one or both of the opposing parties operate along such lines. Low intensity operations Low-Intensity Operations is a military term for the deployment and use of troops and/or assets in situations other than war. Generally these operations are against non-state actors and are given terms like counter-insurgency, anti-subversion, and peacekeeping.G.V. Brandolini (2002). Low intensity conflicts. CRF Press, Bergamo, 16 p. Official definitions United States Low-intensity conflict is defined by the US Army as: }} The manual also says: Implementation Weapons As the name suggests, in comparison with conventional operations the armed forces involved operate at a greatly reduced tempo, with fewer soldiers, a reduced range of tactical equipment and limited scope to operate in a military manner. For example the use of air power, pivotal in modern warfare, is often relegated to transport and surveillance. Artillery is often not used when LIC occurs in populated areas. The role of the armed forces is dependent on the stage of the insurrection, whether it has progressed to armed struggle or is in an early stage of propaganda and protests. Intelligence Intelligence gathering is essential to an efficient basis of LIC operation instructions. Electronic and signal gathering intelligence, ELINT and SIGINT, proves largely ineffective against low intensity opponents. LIC generally requires more hands-on HUMINT methods of information retrieval. Stages In the first stages of insurrection, much of an army's work is "soft" - working in conjunction with civil authorities in psychological operations, propaganda, counter-organizing, so-called "hearts and minds." If the conflict progresses, possibly into armed clashes, the role develops with the addition of the identification and removal of the armed groups - but again, at a low level, in communities rather than throughout entire cities. This is roughly the definition of terrorism. Examples Burma The Union of Myanmar (the official name of Burma) has regularly conducted limited low-intensity military campaigns against the independence movement of the Karen people in an area of southeast Burma (roughly corresponding to a Burmese administrative region called the Kayin State), which has actively pursued independence since January 1949. While allegedly limited and low-intensity in that the territories occupied in force by central government forces are returned (as they cannot be held permanently as of yet) at the end of the offensives (with the stated, but sometimes unstated, purpose of weakening the opposition and independence movements), human rights organizations and national governments outside of Burma question the veracity of, and sometimes outright refute (based on clear evidence) these claims. Sudan The governments of Sudan have also engaged in limited military offensives (analogous to Burma's "annual dry season offensives") against various armed opposition and independence movements, which have often escalated into full-scale warfare, particularly in the south and Darfur, but also until recently in the east. These military actions (First Sudanese Civil War and Second Sudanese Civil War) have, over time, continued to ravage the areas in dispute and contribute greatly to the poor conditions in those regions as well as the various human rights violations that have occurred (and in some cases are still occurring) there. German occupation of France German occupation of Western Europe during World War II, notably the occupation of France, shared many aspects with more recent cases of LIC, such as the "Hearts and minds" stage early on, establishment of puppet governments, strong propaganda aimed at isolating resistance movements, and support to domestic friendly forces (such as the Milice in France). See also * Counter-insurgency * Divide and rule * Fourth generation warfare * Guerrilla warfare * Irregular Warfare * Michael G. Vickers * Military operations other than war * New Wars * Political Warfare * Reagan Doctrine * Violent non-state actor References * Asprey, Robert. War in the Shadows, ISBN 0-595-22593-4 * British Army (ed.). Land Operations, Volume III, Counter Revolutionary Operations, 1969. * Buffaloe, David. Conventional Forces in Low-Intensity Conflict: The 82nd Airborne at Firebase Shkin, Afghanistan http://www.ausa.org/pdfdocs/LPE04_2Buffaloe.pdf, October 2004. * Hammes, Thomas X.. The Sling and the Stone, Zenith Press, 2004. ISBN 0-7603-2059-4 * van Creveld, Martin. The Transformation of War. The Free Press, 1991. ISBN 0-02-933155-2 External links * A wide-ranging gathering of Special Operations / Low Intensity Conflict (SO/LIC) related topics Category:Military operations by type Category:Operations involving special forces Category:Warfare by type Category:War on Terror de:Konflikt niedriger Intensität et:Madala intensiivsusega konflikt es:Guerra de baja intensidad hr:Sukob niskog intenziteta it:Conflitto a bassa intensità he:לחימה בעצימות נמוכה ja:低強度紛争 no:Lavintensitetskrig sh:Sukob niskog intenziteta